It's All in the Cards
$29.99 download
https://bigblindmedia.com/products/ed-ma......64169957

The Hype:
A BBM EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD VIDEO - The definitive inside story of magic's most prolific and creative card genius - Ed Marlo. An incredible three hour documentary extravaganza that features the teaching of numerous classic routines, rare home movies, a plethora of interviews and priceless anecdotes from Marlo’s closest students and even a 17min film of Ed Marlo, Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller at the Magic Castle! It’s a truly essential and genuinely entertaining testament to the legacy of one of card magic’s greatest proponents.

Produced by David Solomon and directed by Mark Skolnik, this was originally filmed in 2005, and subsequently released as a DVD. It has now been meticulously upscaled and remastered for the optimal download experience.

The huge 3Hour+ video download features:

Part 1: The History

Documentary of Ed Marlo's life in card magic.
Historic and rare footage of Ed Marlo performing a collection of his original card effects and sleight of hand (including Devilish Miracle, Unbelievable Aces and Cards To Pocket, Open Prediction and 8 perfect riffle Faro Shuffles).
First-hand stories highlighting Marlo's unique personality.
Part 2: The Card Effects

Marlo's students perform and explain card effects inspired by their mentor.
Open Prediction
Aces Of Spades Trick
Matching Routine
Soc Thru
Repeat Card To Pocket
Future Reverse
Oddity
Oil and Water
Vanishing 11
Gaffed To The Hilt
Have Another Sandwich
Web Shuffle
Olram Aces


BONUS

Historic footage of Ed Marlo, Charlie Miller and Dai Vernon at the Magic Castle in the Palace of Mystery. Circa 1983 filmed by James Lewis.
Featuring: Allen Ackerman, Simon Aronson, Steve Draun, Don England, Joe Hartel, Kevin Kelly, Millard Lichter, Bill Malone, Jimmy Molinari, Jimmy Nuzzo, Jon Racherbaumer, David Solomon, and Randy Wakeman.

RUNNING TIME - 3hr 2Min

My Take:
Anyone who does any kind of card magic is familiar with Ed Marlo, a living legend. You might have read things or effects but you didn't really get to know him. This new release by Big Blind Media aims to correct that.

Interviews with some of his students (you will know some. Jon Racherbaumer, Bill Malone, Simon Aronson, Allan Ackerman and more, Some will be new names to you) They all have stories of how obsessed Marlo was with card magic. Once he got into working with a problem, it was like the real world no longer existed for him. The cards and the problem were the only reality he knew at that point.

This is not just one film. The shots of Marlo were fuzzy and not clear but are very watchable. A lot of the video looks like it was home movies. Don't let that bother you. You see everything you need to see plus you are watching true card magic history.

The first file talks with some of his students and stories are told of him. Not only what a great card mechanic but just what a wonderful guy he was and what a funny man he was. I can speak from personal experience. Back when Tops was publishing Marlo's works in each issue, I learned one of his routines and thought I might have found a small variation on it. I wrote him a letter and he hand wrote a post card back. (Yes, I still have it). He made no disparaging remarks on why this nobody kid thought he was smart enough to teach Marlo something but a kind man who thanked me for my letter and said he was glad I enjoyed his work.

Vintage Marlo is a 36 minute video of him doing moves. The film is has a running commentary that tells you what he is doing and what to watch for. This comes in quite handy of long stretches with Marlo staying quiet but as usual, Marlo's technique is flawless.

His tabled faro shuffle eight times to return the deck to the original order is a thing of beauty.
There are things in this section which will make your jaw drop.

Memories of Marlo features a number of amusing anecdotes from his friends. Makes you really wish that you had been in attendance.

There is a lot of archival footage to be watched here. Like I said, not the best video quality but who cares? It's Marlo.

There are 13 routines performed and taught by his students, each one a love letter to the master. There is some great stuff and it is not the knucklebusters you would expect. One of the routines is one of my favorite plots. Oil and Water. The instruction section ends with Marlo's version of Macdonald's Aces. This routine I am not overly fond of. I find it unnecessarily complex and I feel there are simpler versions out there just as good. (Such as Alex Elmsley's "Flight to Witch Mountain". A great assembly that is not only simpler, it uses no gaffed cards).

The package finishes with Marlo's Magic Castle 1983 appearance. I was surprised to see not a single trick, not even a single card in this 17 minutes video. The video starts off with Marlo being interviewed and then two of his friends join him on stage. The Professor and Charlie Miller. This was a real delight to watch and I even learned a couple of things. That Dai Vernon could be a very funny guy and that Marlo was a good singer.

All in all, this is a nice buy. My only caveat would be the quality of the video is less than stellar. However, keep in mind that this was compiled using old film. The historical importance of the package far outweighs the lack of crispness in the video. If you are a Marlophile or even if you just love card magic, this needs to be in your library.

So, yes, this is recommended and kudos to Big Blind Media for making this available to us.

Thank you for a great review. I purchased the DVD set when Dave Solomon released it in 2005. Has anyone compared the original DVD to the quality of the "meticulously upscaled and remastered for the optimal download experience"? Is it worth the upscale? It looks like all the same material so I'm curious if the upscale is worth re-purchasing (I think it was originally $50 as a DVD, so it's a steal at $29.50 on sale today).